Starting out with Sonoff

MDKza

MDKza

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Hey everyone,

So I am gonna start playing with Sonoff stuff.
Very interested in the Sonoff Basic for appliances, lamps, that kind of thing - this seems relatively simple.

My questions are more around the TX Series light switches. (Keep in mind I know not much about electricity and fitting standards etc)
I understand the gang part of the light switch and what it does.

  1. Can I just buy any of the TX series, why would I chose one over the other? I see some of them have the 433MHz option. As I understand you can convert non WIFI devices to WIFI devices with another device? This leads to my second question.
  2. Why would you need the 433MHz story if these are all WIFI enabled?
  3. I see there are 2 shapes, the more rectangle shape and the more square shape. I don't seem to notice a difference in product code between them? Which would be the rectangle ones as these are what I need. My Light Switches
  4. I have 2 wall plates which have 1 switch that is 2 way. Can these switches be 2 way as well? Does the smart management of these eliminate the need for a 2 way switch?
  5. I see there are different standards. Which would be applicable for SA?

Shot for the help :)
 
MDKza said:
Hey everyone,

So I am gonna start playing with Sonoff stuff.
Very interested in the Sonoff Basic for appliances, lamps, that kind of thing - this seems relatively simple.

My questions are more around the TX Series light switches. (Keep in mind I know not much about electricity and fitting standards etc)
I understand the gang part of the light switch and what it does.

  1. Can I just buy any of the TX series, why would I chose one over the other? I see some of them have the 433MHz option. As I understand you can convert non WIFI devices to WIFI devices with another device? This leads to my second question.
  2. Why would you need the 433MHz story if these are all WIFI enabled?
  3. I see there are 2 shapes, the more rectangle shape and the more square shape. I don't seem to notice a difference in product code between them? Which would be the rectangle ones as these are what I need. My Light Switches
  4. I have 2 wall plates which have 1 switch that is 2 way. Can these switches be 2 way as well? Does the smart management of these eliminate the need for a 2 way switch?
  5. I see there are different standards. Which would be applicable for SA?

Shot for the help :)
Click to expand...
If you want to be able to control your light switches with the 433Mhz remote or Sonoff RF Bridge then you can look at buying the ones with the 433Mhz built in - I don't see any need for this myself. But someone else out there might have a good use case.

The square shaped one is a US type light switch - this wont fit the wall box in your house. We use generally use UK standard here (rectangular) so make sure you order that.

You can two way switch quite easily. The simplest way is to have one switch physically switch your live connection - so connected as normal. The second switch would simply have a neutral and live in - but no live out. This second switch would act as a "remote switch" which you can configure to switch on the live wired switch. Like the below.

Capture.JPG
 
skefda said:
The square shaped one is a US type light switch - this wont fit the wall box in your house. We use generally use UK standard here (rectangular) so make sure you order that.
Click to expand...
I think you'll find you got that reversed. US uses rectangular, much as we do here, and UK generally uses square.
 
skefda said:
If you want to be able to control your light switches with the 433Mhz remote or Sonoff RF Bridge then you can look at buying the ones with the 433Mhz built in - I don't see any need for this myself. But someone else out there might have a good use case.

The square shaped one is a US type light switch - this wont fit the wall box in your house. We use generally use UK standard here (rectangular) so make sure you order that.

You can two way switch quite easily. The simplest way is to have one switch physically switch your live connection - so connected as normal. The second switch would simply have a neutral and live in - but no live out. This second switch would act as a "remote switch" which you can configure to switch on the live wired switch. Like the below.

View attachment 789975
Click to expand...

I should probably take my switches off the walls and see how it is cabled at the moment.
Thanks for this - I do appreciate it.

I also can't see the need for the 433MHz if these things have WIFI already.

I will post pictures if I do decide to go with them.
 
MDKza said:
I should probably take my switches off the walls and see how it is cabled at the moment.
Thanks for this - I do appreciate it.

I also can't see the need for the 433MHz if these things have WIFI already.

I will post pictures if I do decide to go with them.
Click to expand...
There is a good chance you might have to run a neutral wire to the switch. Some houses have this but many (most?) don't.
 
bwana said:
There is a good chance you might have to run a neutral wire to the switch. Some houses have this but many (most?) don't.
Click to expand...

This is starting so sound like a "job creation" task. lol
 
If there is no neutral inside the switch then the sonoff mini might be better. You can put the sonoff mini in the roof where the wires run down to the light switch and just put the existing switch into the sonoff. Then you can draw the neutral without having to run it down to the switch.
 
As an aside, look at flashing your Sonoffs with Tasmota fw. I don't know for sure, but I suspect the standard factory fw phones home to China, and that's just not something I'll let onto my network... All my Sonoff switches are local-only with Tasmota. I VPN in (via OpenVPN to my pfSense device) to access them when away.
 
Arthur said:
As an aside, look at flashing your Sonoffs with Tasmota fw. I don't know for sure, but I suspect the standard factory fw phones home to China, and that's just not something I'll let onto my network... All my Sonoff switches are local-only with Tasmota. I VPN in to access them when away.
Click to expand...
But then, dont you need to set up a MQTT server to manage them? Thats been my hold back.
 
Mars said:
But then, dont you need to set up a MQTT server to manage them? Thats been my hold back.
Click to expand...
Thats why I use ESPHome. No need for MQTT and the devices flashed with ESPHome run far more responsively than Tasmota
 
Mars said:
If there is no neutral inside the switch then the sonoff mini might be better. You can put the sonoff mini in the roof where the wires run down to the light switch and just put the existing switch into the sonoff. Then you can draw the neutral without having to run it down to the switch.
Click to expand...
That's such an inelegant solution though, especially when you have 2 or 3 gang switches you need to wire up. So far it's been so much easier to just run a neutral to the switch for me.

Also, just think of all the hassles if you have to change your SSID or password.

Edit: forget about all that. I have 8 minis I'm going to be selling soon. ;)

MDKza said:
This is starting so sound like a "job creation" task. lol
Click to expand...
I got an electrician in to do one. Then I repeated what he did five or six more times. :)
 
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Reactions: rh1
Hey MDKza

My whole house almost runs off the Sonoff device brand. I use the TX light switches( the ones with the 433MHZ) as they were not much more expensive. I do have the Sonoff RF hub so might look at doing something with this for the lights. I have flashed all the Sonoff equipment with Tasmota, but I am using a home automation hub from a company called Hubitat. Have a Google and see if it is something you might like. It is not a plug and pray/play system but there is a lot of info on their community pages. I have Sonoff's which open my garage when I arrive(working well), alerts when a window is left open after a certain time (monkeys). I also use Samsung Smartthings motion and door contact sensors to control my Sonoff TX light switches, so if I walk into my kitchen and it is between sunset and sunrise the light turns on automatically and then when no more motion turns off after 2min that sort of thing. I also did the bathroom and toilets as my son, is too short to reach the light switches so these turn on with motion as well.
 
Hello again.
So I took the switches off the wall and this is what is inside.

Upstairs Switch View 1:
f8ef6994-5631-4149-92f3-5fefc9e72917.jpg

Upstairs Switch View 2:
07a5400f-3595-475c-89f1-f8ce55fbfc73.jpg

Downstairs Switch View 1:
64cc8df6-a8e3-4400-94aa-06ee0c68b138.jpg

Downstairs Switch View 2:
96b83585-7d57-4138-b6a5-2b458297faea.jpg
 
looks like you might be lucky, that set of black/blue wires in the chocolate block just hanging around not connected to anything else is probably the neutrals, whoever did this wiring job should be raped.

edit: this is 2 way switching... these are probably not your neutrals
 
Dairyfarmer said:
Yes, they never heard of 4 core before.


SA Light switches never have a neutral wire running to them. The switch only "breaks" the Live to turn the light off.
Click to expand...

that is a very bold statement, while the neutral isn't broken some are lucky enough to have them pulled to the switch , very few but still some.
 
Greglsh said:
Hey MDKza

My whole house almost runs off the Sonoff device brand. I use the TX light switches( the ones with the 433MHZ) as they were not much more expensive. I do have the Sonoff RF hub so might look at doing something with this for the lights. I have flashed all the Sonoff equipment with Tasmota, but I am using a home automation hub from a company called Hubitat. Have a Google and see if it is something you might like. It is not a plug and pray/play system but there is a lot of info on their community pages. I have Sonoff's which open my garage when I arrive(working well), alerts when a window is left open after a certain time (monkeys). I also use Samsung Smartthings motion and door contact sensors to control my Sonoff TX light switches, so if I walk into my kitchen and it is between sunset and sunrise the light turns on automatically and then when no more motion turns off after 2min that sort of thing. I also did the bathroom and toilets as my son, is too short to reach the light switches so these turn on with motion as well.
Click to expand...
How did you manage to control the Garage open/close with the Sonoffs?
 
Steamy Tom said:
that is a very bold statement, while the neutral isn't broken some are lucky enough to have them pulled to the switch , very few but still some.
Click to expand...
Was talking about the switch itself. They have no connection for a neutral wire. It is unlikely that an electrician will run a neutral to the switch box. Using a standard 2 core + E wire, you use the red wire to get Live to the switch and the black or blue wire to take the Live back to the light. The switch is normally sited a distance from the light, so it is a hassle to run an extra wire to the switch box that will not be used.
 
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